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Kentucky quarterback Stephen Johnson talks about the 40-34 win over Missouri which improved UK to 5-1 on the season.

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Yet if the Wildcats players are stoked by their start to the 2017 season, that’s not the feeling emanating from the Kentucky fan base. Many UK backers seem not to have bought in on the Cats in spite of the 5-1 start.

Given that this year is only the seventh time a University of Kentucky football team has begun a season 5-1 since the venue formerly known as Commonwealth Stadium opened in 1973, you might expect a little more electricity in the BBN.

2.) Playing everybody close. UK beat Southern Miss by seven in a game that went to the final minute. Kentucky trailed EKU at halftime and entered the fourth quarter only up one before winning by 11. The Wildcats had to stop an Eastern Michigan pass on the final play of the game to win 24-20.

5.) Not long ago, UK fans traveled this exact path to an unhappy ending. The last time the Cats started 5-1, in 2014, they went 0-6 the rest of the way.

So Kentucky backers have very recently seen their team make waves early against a favorable schedule only to see the Wildcats fade once the competition toughened.

This year, there’s no question that the final six games on the Kentucky schedule look tougher, on paper, than the first six.

The Kentucky Wildcats are 5-1 in a football season for only the seventh time since 1973 but the Big Blue Nation does not yet seem to have fully bought in.
Alex Slitz
aslitz@herald-leader.com

However — with the exception of Georgia (6-0, 3-0 SEC) — the final six games on the UK slate for 2017 do not look as tough now as they did when the season started.

Other than the visit to Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs, UK’s final four SEC games — at Mississippi State (1-2), Tennessee (0-2), Mississippi (0-2) and at Vanderbilt (0-3) — are against teams that are presently a combined 1-9 vs. conference foes.

Even with Lamar Jackson plotting revenge for last season’s UK upset, Kentucky’s season-ending rivalry showdown against Louisville (4-2, 1-2 ACC) does not seem as daunting at the moment as it looked in the summer, either.

UK football team finishes the game at Kroger Field beating Missouri with a 40-34 score.

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It is often joked that the unofficial slogan of UK football is “We never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

That’s about to be tested again. Mark Stoops and the 2017 Cats are sitting on a big chance to make some happy history in these final six games.

It’s OK, UK fans, to let yourself get at least a little excited over that.

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The Kentucky Wildcats lost a NCAA college football game 29-21 to the No. 9 Florida Gators after leading 21-10 in the fourth quarter. For UK fans, it was a heartbreak they’ve seen far too often across the years.